Time to book holiday trips: Americans are finding deals, but are willing to pay more for convenience

It’s that time of year again: The holiday season is nearly upon us. Consider this your call to start booking those holiday trips.

As TPG has reported, the best time to book flights for Thanksgiving trips is now, and trips for Christmas should be booked around Halloween and by mid-November at the latest — at least if you want a bargain.

And many Americans are planning to travel for the holidays and finding deals, according to a new poll commissioned by TPG and conducted by The Harris Poll.

Travelers have lots to say on price vs. convenience

TPG commissioned the survey to learn more about travelers’ plans for the holidays, how they are paying for trips, and how they are using points and miles to make those trips more affordable.

According to our findings, more than half of Americans (51%) plan to travel this holiday season, and just over half of those travelers (55%) will be flying. A small majority (56%) have already started booking trips.

A whopping 91% of travelers who started booking their holiday travel already say they scored savings this year. That’s music to our ears.

In fact, 69% of those holiday travelers surveyed who plan to fly said price is a bigger priority than flying a particular airline, so loyalty isn’t playing as big a role for about two-thirds of the polled holiday travelers as it might for us at TPG.

Just over three-quarters of holiday travelers (76%) have some type of points or miles rewards card or are a member of a points or miles program, and among those people, nearly 9 in 10 (88%) say they’ll use those rewards for their travel this holiday season.

Still, nearly 4 in 5 (79%) holiday travelers with rewards points or miles say they would rather skip redeeming those points and miles if it means getting a better deal.

Those folks may be on to something, as our 2024 holiday airfare special report found using miles for peak-season holiday flights does not generally offer the best value for those miles.

We recruited our friends at Points Path to help us find some fascinating data. Using 7.2 million pieces of data, we found that generally, there are big jumps in the number of miles you’d need to book holiday flights.

Meanwhile, the Harris Poll-TPG survey found that consumers want to keep it simple, with nearly 3 in 4 holiday travelers agreeing that it is worth it to pay more for convenience during the holidays. That’s a whopping 73% of travelers.

Sixty-four percent of holiday travelers say they plan to earn rewards with their holiday travel this year.

It’s not too late to book holiday travel

Visitors shop at Christkindlmarket in Chicago. SCOTT OLSEN/GETTY IMAGES

More than 2 in 5 of the holiday travelers we polled (44%) said they hadn’t yet booked any of their holiday travel. The good news is that there’s still time to score good deals.

The Points Guy recommends booking domestic flights one to two months in advance. You should have already set a Google Flights alert, but now is the time to book Thanksgiving trips, and you should book Christmas travel around Halloween.

According to the Harris Poll-TPG survey, about 1 in 3 travelers who feel they’ve waited too long to book holiday travel say it’s because they were waiting for prices to go down (35%) or waiting to confirm plans with friends and family (33%).

But as we’ve suggested, it’s not too late to book those flights.

It could still make sense to use points and miles

Of course, while it might not always be the best use of points and miles, using rewards for holiday travel could still be your best bet, especially if cash prices are high.

The Harris Poll-TPG survey found that more holiday travelers with rewards points or miles are planning to use their rewards for hotels (54%) than for airfare (29%) this year.

That’s why those of us at TPG love having a stash of points and miles, whether you plan to use them for the holidays, last-minute emergencies or for that once-in-a-lifetime trip in business class. It’s always good to have a stash.

This is a big reason why TPG is very much against the proposed Credit Card Competition Act, which a group of lawmakers is trying to push through Congress. If passed, it would very likely lead to drastic cuts — or worse — to credit card rewards programs … and the travel dreams they help unlock. You can find more information on that here.

Travelers are worried about delays and cancellations

Finally, we found that 85% of those planning travel have some concerns. Nearly half (47%) are worried about large crowds of travelers, 43% are worried about potential weather delays, 27% are worried about delays and cancellations, and 23% are worried about lost luggage.

Never fear, however: TPG is here with all the tips and tricks you need to stay sane over the holidays.

Related reading:

Survey method: This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Points Guy from Oct. 3-7, 2024, among 2,085 U.S. adults (18 and older), among whom 1,069 are planning to travel this holiday season. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.